Is Pregnancy the Time to Change Alcohol Consumption Habits in France?

  1. Ingrid De Chazeron,
  2. Pierre-Michel Llorca,
  3. Sylvie Ughetto,
  4. Françoise Vendittelli,
  5. Didier Boussiron,
  6. Vincent Sapin,
  7. François Coudore,
  8. Didier Lemery

Article first published online: 28 MAR 2008

DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00646.x

Issue

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research

Volume 32, Issue 5, pages 868–873, May 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

De Chazeron, I., Llorca, P.-M., Ughetto, S., Vendittelli, F., Boussiron, D., Sapin, V., Coudore, F. and Lemery, D. (2008), Is Pregnancy the Time to Change Alcohol Consumption Habits in France?. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 32: 868–873. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2008.00646.x

Author Information

  1. From the CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Psychiatry B (IdeC, PML), Department of Biostatistics (SU), Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Hôtel-Dieu) (FV, DL), Sainte Marie Institut (DB), Lab of Pharmacology and Toxicology (FC), Department of Biochemistry (VS), Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France.

*Reprint requests: Ingrid de Chazeron, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, CMP-B, Rue Montalembert BP 69, F-63003 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 1, France; Fax: 33-4-73-75-21-29; E-mail: idechazeron@chu-clermontferrand.fr

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 28 MAR 2008
  2. Article first published online: 28 MAR 2008
  3. Received for publication September 25, 2007; accepted January 29, 2008.

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (110K)

Keywords:

  • Pregnancy;
  • Alcohol;
  • AUDIT;
  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome;
  • Epidemiological Study

Background:  Although it is well known that France has a cultural history of alcohol use, no recent French data on alcohol consumption during pregnancy in a large sample are available.

Methods:  To determine the alcohol consumption patterns among pregnant women in France, we analyzed data from a 1-year multicenter self-survey. Sociodemographic profile, obstetrical history, neonatal data, and a self-report for assessing drinking patterns during pregnancy including AUDIT were recorded from women who delivered recently. Cases of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) were also reported.

Results:  A total of 837 pregnant women have described all parameters. The mean age at delivery of our sample was 29.7 years (SD = 4.8 years). A total of 52.2% of women indicated that they had consumed alcohol at least once during their pregnancy, and among abstainers 54.5% had a positive AUDIT score. Of the pregnant women who consumed alcohol, 13.7% reported at least one binge drinking episode (5 or more drinks on 1 occasion) during pregnancy. Binge drinking is significantly more frequent than regular alcohol consumption (at least 1 drink more than 1 time per week) during pregnancy. A prevalence rate of FAS of 1.8 per 1,000 live births was observed.

Conclusions:  There is a large population of women who still drink alcohol during pregnancy, particularly in binge drinking episodes. This underlines the need to clearly inform women of childbearing age about the dangers of alcohol during pregnancy as related to all types of consumption. Moreover, acting to prevent alcohol consumption prior to pregnancy may also greatly influence prenatal drinking.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (110K)